Ceiling cassette air conditioner

ABSTRACT

An object of the present invention is to provide a ceiling cassette air conditioner with which design deterioration due to wind direction vanes during operation is reduced. The ceiling cassette air conditioner of this invention includes a main body arranged in a ceiling and having a rectangular cross-section opening opens on a room side, a blower fan blowing air taken in from an air inlet to a discharge outlet in the main body, a heat exchanger arranged in the main body and downstream of the blower fan and exchanging heat with the air taken in from the air inlet, a decorative panel covering the opening to be flush with a ceiling surface, and wind direction vanes arranged in the discharge outlet for adjusting blowing directions. The wind direction vanes are arranged behind the decorative panel.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a ceiling cassette air conditionerhaving good design properties.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, there is a ceiling cassette air conditioner that takesin air from a room, and supplies conditioned air into the room. Thisceiling cassette air conditioner has four wind direction vanes to adjustblowing directions. The blowing directions toward the room are adjustedby adjusting angles of these wind direction vanes. Further, in thisceiling cassette air conditioner, four wind direction vanes and adecorative panel are flush with a ceiling surface when the ceilingcassette air conditioner is out of operation in order to improve designproperties.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

Patent Literature 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application PublicationNo. 2012-107864

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

However, in operation, each of the four wind direction vanes is fixed ata predetermined angle or is moving to adjust the blowing direction.Therefore, the wind direction vanes which are fixed at predeterminedangles or moving are recognized by a user visually. As a result, thedesign properties are deteriorated.

The present invention is made in order to solve the above-mentionedproblem, and it is therefore an object of the present invention toprovide a ceiling cassette air conditioner with which deterioration indesign properties during operation due to wind direction vanes isreduced.

Solution to Problem

A ceiling cassette air conditioner according to the present inventionincludes: a main body arranged in a ceiling and having a rectangularcross-section opening on a room side of the main body; a blower fanarranged in the main body, and configured to blow air taken in from anair inlet of the main body to a discharge outlet of the main body; aheat exchanger arranged in the main body and downstream of the blowerfan, and configured to exchange heat with the air taken in from the airinlet; a decorative panel covering the opening, and arranged to be flushwith a ceiling surface; and a wind direction vane arranged in thedischarge outlet, and configured to adjust a blowing direction. The winddirection vane is arranged behind the decorative panel.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

In the ceiling cassette air conditioner according to the presentinvention, because the wind direction vanes in the discharge outlet arearranged behind the decorative panel, a user in a room cannot visuallyrecognize the wind direction vanes. Therefore, even when the ceilingcassette air conditioner is in operation and each of four wind directionvanes is fixed at a predetermined angle or moving, a user cannotvisually recognize the wind direction vanes, and as a result, an effectof avoiding deterioration of design properties can be achieved.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view of a ceiling cassette airconditioner according to Embodiment 1 when the ceiling cassette airconditioner is out of operation;

FIG. 2 is an exterior perspective view of the ceiling cassette airconditioner according to Embodiment 1 when the ceiling cassette airconditioner is out of operation;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of the ceiling cassette airconditioner according to Embodiment 1 when the ceiling cassette airconditioner is in operation;

FIGS. 4A to 4C are diagrams for illustrating a relationship between ablowing amount and an arrangement of a decorative panel in the ceilingcassette air conditioner according to Embodiment 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of a ceiling cassette airconditioner according to Embodiment 2 when the ceiling cassette airconditioner is out of operation;

FIG. 6 is an exterior plan view of the ceiling cassette air conditioneraccording to Embodiment 2 viewed from a room side when the ceilingcassette air conditioner is out of operation; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional side view of the ceiling cassette airconditioner according to Embodiment 2 when the ceiling cassette airconditioner is in operation.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, a configurations of a ceiling cassetteair conditioner according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention willbe explained. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view of a ceilingcassette air conditioner according to Embodiment 1 when the ceilingcassette air conditioner is out of operation. FIG. 2 is an exteriorperspective view of the ceiling cassette air conditioner according toEmbodiment 1 when the ceiling cassette air conditioner is out ofoperation. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of the ceiling cassetteair conditioner according to Embodiment 1 when the ceiling cassette airconditioner is in operation. FIGS. 4A to 4C are diagrams forillustrating a relationship between the blowing amount and anarrangement of a decorative panel in the ceiling cassette airconditioner according to Embodiment 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, a ceiling cassette air conditioner 1 includes: amain body 2 arranged in a ceiling and having a rectangular cross-sectionopening on a room side thereof; and an exterior case 4 arranged on aroom side of the main body 2 and exposed on a ceiling surface 3.Further, in the main body 2 of the ceiling cassette air conditioner 1, ablower fan 5 that blows air taken in from an air inlet 12 (it will bedescribed later) of the main body 2 to a discharge outlet 13 (it will bedescribed later) of the main body 2, a heat exchanger 6 that is arrangeddownstream of the blower fan 5 and that exchanges heat with the airtaken in from the air inlet 12, and a dust collection filter 7 thatremoves dust from the air taken in into the main body 2 are provided.Further, the ceiling cassette air conditioner 1 includes a decorativepanel 8 that is arranged to be flush with the ceiling surface 3 and thatcovers the opening of the main body 2. The decorative panel 8 is raisedand lowered with a lifting device 9 in response to operating conditionsof the blower fan 5.

As shown in FIG. 2, the main body 2 has a rectangular parallelepiped boxshape, and is arranged in the ceiling in such a way that the room sidethereof is open. The exterior case 4 is attached to the main body 2 tosurround the periphery of the opening of the main body 2 as viewed fromthe room side. That is, the exterior case 4 has a rectangular frameshape, which is a shape of a plate from which a central portion isremoved. Furthermore, the exterior case 4 is attached to the ceiling soas to be flush with the ceiling surface 3. Of course, the exterior case4 may not necessarily be completely flush with the ceiling surface, aslong as the exterior case 4 appears to be flush with the ceiling surfaceat a glance.

As shown in FIG. 1, the blower fan 5 is provided at a central portion ofa bottom part of the main body 2 that has a box shape. When the blowerfan 5 rotates, the air in the room is taken in from the air inlet 12 andis discharged from the discharge outlet 13. The heat exchanger 6 isarranged between the blower fan 5 and the discharge outlet 13, andexchanges heat with the air taken in from the air inlet 12 by anoperation of the blower fan 5. The dust collection filter 7 is arrangedbehind the decorative panel 8 as viewed from the room side, between theair inlet 12 and the blower fan 5, and plays a role of removing the dustcontained in the air taken in from the air inlet 12 by the operation ofthe blower fan 5.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the decorative panel 8 is provided tofill a central portion of the exterior case 4 that has a rectangularframe shape, and is provided to cover the opening of the main body 2.The decorative panel 8 includes a peripheral panel 10 having arectangular frame shape, and a central panel 11 having a rectangularplate shape so as to fill a central portion of the peripheral panel 10.The central panel 11 covers the air inlet 12, and the peripheral panel10 covers the air inlet 12 and the discharge outlet 13. That is, theperipheral panel 10 having a rectangular frame shape is arranged insidethe exterior case 4 having a rectangular frame shape, and the centralpanel 11 having a rectangular plate shape is arranged inside theperipheral panel 10. The exterior case 4, the peripheral panel 10, andthe central panel 11 form a single plate shape, and they are arranged soas to be flush with the ceiling surface 3 as viewed from the room side.Of course, the exterior case 4, the peripheral panel 10, and the centralpanel 11 may not necessarily be completely flush with the ceilingsurface 3 as long as they appear to be flush with the ceiling surface ata glance.

Next, with reference to FIG. 3, arrangement of wind direction vanes 14will be explained. Note that arrows in FIG. 3 indicate air flow, namelyair passages.

As shown in FIG. 3, the lifting device 9 of the ceiling cassette airconditioner 1 according to Embodiment 1 raises and lowers the decorativepanel 8, and in particular, the peripheral panel 10 of the decorativepanel. When the ceiling cassette air conditioner 1 starts its operation,rotation of the blower fan 5 starts. In parallel, the lifting device 9moves the peripheral panel 10 toward the room side. Thereby, airconditioning in the room is started.

When the lifting device 9 moves the peripheral panel 10 toward the roomside, a gap is formed between the peripheral panel 10 and the centralpanel 11. This gap functions as the air inlet 12 of the ceiling cassetteair conditioner 1. Similarly, when the peripheral panel 10 is movedtoward the room side, a gap is formed between the peripheral panel 10and the exterior case 4. This gap functions as the discharge outlet 13of the ceiling cassette air conditioner 1. That is, when the ceilingcassette air conditioner 1 is out of operation, the exterior case 4, theperipheral panel 10, and the central panel 11 are flush with the ceilingsurface 3 and are arranged in such a way that gaps are not formed asshown in FIG. 1. Thus, neither the air inlet 12 nor the discharge outlet13 is formed. On the other hand, the peripheral panel 10 is moved towardthe room side during operation, and as a result, the air inlet 12 andthe discharge outlet 13 are formed. That is, one air inlet 12 having arectangular frame shape is formed, and one discharge outlet 13 having arectangular frame shape is also formed.

When the ceiling cassette air conditioner 1 starts its operation, theair in the room is taken in into the main body 2 via the air inlet 12.Then, the air taken in into the main body 2 is conditioned assequentially passing through the dust collection filter 7, the blowerfan 5, and the heat exchanger 6. After that, the air is discharged fromthe discharge outlet 13 into the room.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the ceiling cassette air conditioner 1, the winddirection vanes 14 are further provided on an inner wall surface side ofthe discharge outlet 13. By adjusting the angles of the wind directionvanes 14, the blowing directions of the air toward the room can beadjusted. Moreover, the wind direction vanes 14 are arranged behind thedecorative panel 8, and in particular, behind the peripheral panel 10.Furthermore, an end portions of the wind direction vanes 14 are arrangedinside an end portion of the decorative panel 8, and in particular,inside an end portion of the peripheral panel 10.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the wind direction vanes 14 are arrangedbehind the decorative panel 8, and in particular, behind the peripheralpanel 10, when the ceiling cassette air conditioner 1 is in operation aswell as when it is out of operation. Thus, the users cannot visuallyrecognize the wind direction vanes 14.

Further, a moving amount, that is, a lowering amount of the peripheralpanel 10 toward the room side by the lifting device 9 may be changeddepending on the blowing directions of the air toward the room. As shownin FIGS. 4A to 4C, for example, FIG. 4A illustrates a case in which theair is blown along the ceiling, FIG. 4C illustrates a case in which theair is blown in such a way that a person in the room can feel airflow,and FIG. 4B illustrates an intermediate case between the case shown inFIG. 4A and the case shown in FIG. 4C. In the case shown in FIG. 4A,since the wind direction vanes 14 become approximately parallel to theceiling surface 3, it is not necessary to provide a wide movable areafor the wind direction vanes 14. Thus, the lowering amount of theperipheral panel 10 by the lifting device 9 can be small. On the otherhand, in the case shown in FIG. 4C, it is necessary to provide a widermovable area for the wind direction vanes 14 in order to direct theouter end portions of the wind direction vanes 14 toward a residentialarea of the room. Thus, the lowering amount of the peripheral panel 10by the lifting device 9 should be large. When the lowering amount of theperipheral panel 10 is small, it appears to be flatter as viewed fromthe room side and has good design properties. Thus, if the loweringamount of the peripheral panel is the same for both the case of blowingthe air along the ceiling and the case of blowing the air in such a waythat a person in the room can feel the airflow, the design propertiesare deteriorated. Accordingly, it is possible to improve the designproperties by adjusting the lowering amount of the peripheral panel 10depending on the blowing directions.

As other variations, the lowering amount of the peripheral panel 10 bythe lifting device 9 may be changed depending on a blowing amount of theair supplied into the room. For example, FIG. 4A illustrates a case inwhich the blowing amount corresponds to “small”, FIG. 4B illustrates acase in which the blowing amount corresponds to “middle”, and FIG. 4Cillustrates a case in which the blowing amount corresponds to “large”.In the case shown in FIG. 4A, since the blowing amount into the room issmall, the size of the discharge outlet 13 can be small. Thus, thelowering amount of the peripheral panel 10 by the lifting device 9 canbe small. On the other hand, in the case shown in FIG. 4C, since theblowing amount into the room is large, the size of the discharge outlet13 should be larger. Thus, the lowering amount of the peripheral panel10 by the lifting device 9 should be larger. If the lowering amount ofthe peripheral panel is the same for both the case in which the blowingamount is “small” and the case in which the blowing amount correspondsto “large”, the design properties are deteriorated. Accordingly, it ispossible to improve the design properties by adjusting the loweringamount of the peripheral panel depending on the blowing amount.

In the ceiling cassette air conditioner according to Embodiment 1, sincethe wind direction vanes in the discharge outlet are arranged behind thedecorative panel, the wind direction vanes cannot be recognized by auser visually. Therefore, even though four wind direction vanes arefixed at predetermined directions or are moving respectively during anoperation, they are not visually recognized by a user. As a result, aneffect proper to the present invention of avoiding deterioration ofdesign properties can be achieved.

Embodiment 2

In Embodiment 1, the central panel of the ceiling cassette airconditioner is a plate having a rectangular shape, the peripheral paneland the central panel are provided separately, and they are separatedfrom each other during operation. On the other hand, a central panel ofa ceiling cassette air conditioner according to Embodiment 2 has arectangular shape with a grating structure, and the peripheral panel andthe central panel are formed as an integrated member.

With reference to FIGS. 5 to 7, the ceiling cassette air conditioneraccording to Embodiment 2 will be explained. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectionalside view of a ceiling cassette air conditioner according to Embodiment2 when the ceiling cassette air conditioner is out of operation. FIG. 6is an exterior plan view of the ceiling cassette air conditioneraccording to Embodiment 2 viewed from a room side when the ceilingcassette air conditioner is out of operation. FIG. 7 is across-sectional side view of the ceiling cassette air conditioneraccording to Embodiment 2 when the ceiling cassette air conditioner isin operation. In this Embodiment 2, differences from Embodiment 1 willbe explained in detail, and the same configurations and the same effectsas those of Embodiment 1 will be omitted from the explanation. Moreover,the same reference numerals are given to the same configurations asEmbodiment 1.

As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, a decorative panel 17 according toEmbodiment 2 is provided so as to fill the central portion of theexterior case 4 that has a rectangular frame shape, and is provided soas to cover the opening of the main body 2. The decorative panel 17includes a peripheral panel 16 having a rectangular frame shape, and acentral panel 15 having a rectangular shape with a grating structure soas to fill a central portion of the peripheral panel 16, which areformed as an integrated member. The central panel 15 covers an air inlet18, and the peripheral panel 16 covers a discharge outlet. That is, theperipheral panel 16 having a rectangular frame shape is arranged insidethe exterior case 4 having a rectangular frame shape, and the centralpanel 15 having a rectangular shape with the grating structure isarranged inside the peripheral panel 16. The exterior case 4, theperipheral panel 16, and the central panel 15 form a single plate shape,and they are arranged so as to be flush with the ceiling surface 3 asviewed from the room side. Of course, the exterior case 4, theperipheral panel 16, and the central panel 15 may not necessarily becompletely flush with the ceiling surface 3 as long as they appear to beflush with the ceiling surface at a glance.

As shown in FIG. 7, the lifting device 9 of the ceiling cassette airconditioner 1 according to Embodiment 2 raises and lowers the decorativepanel 17, that is, the peripheral panel 16 and the central panel 15integrally. When the ceiling cassette air conditioner 1 starts itsoperation, the rotation of the blower fan 5 starts. In parallel, thelifting device 9 moves the decorative panel 17 toward the room side.Thereby, air conditioning in the room is started.

When the lifting device 9 moves the decorative panel 17 toward the roomside, a gap is formed between the peripheral panel 16 and the exteriorcase 4. This gap functions as the discharge outlet 13 of the ceilingcassette air conditioner 1. That is, when the ceiling cassette airconditioner 1 is out of operation, the exterior case 4, the peripheralpanel 16, and the central panel 15 are flush with the ceiling surface 3and are arranged in such a way that a gap is not formed as shown in FIG.5, and thus, the discharge outlet 13 is not formed. When the decorativepanel 17 is moved toward the room side during operation, the dischargeoutlet 13 is formed. On the other hand, since the central panel 15 hasthe grating structure, gaps in the grating structure function as the airinlet 18.

When the ceiling cassette air conditioner 1 starts its operation, theair in the room is taken in into the main body 2 via the air inlet 18.Then, the air taken in into the main body 2 is conditioned assequentially passing through the dust collection filter 7, the blowerfan 5, and the heat exchanger 6. After that, the air is discharged fromthe discharge outlet 13 into the room.

As described above, in the ceiling cassette air conditioner according toEmbodiment 2, the peripheral panel and the central panel are integrallymoved during operation. Thus, a step is not formed between theperipheral panel and the central panel. Therefore, in addition to theeffects according to Embodiment 1, an effect of further improving thedesign properties is achieved.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

1: ceiling cassette air conditioner, 2: main body, 3: ceiling surface,4: exterior case, 5: blower fan, 6: heat exchanger, 7: dust collectionfilter, 8: decorative panel, 9: lifting device, 10: peripheral panel,11: central panel, 12: air inlet, 13: discharge outlet, 14: winddirection vane, 15: central panel, 16: peripheral panel, 17: decorativepanel, 18: air inlet.

1-10. (canceled)
 11. A ceiling cassette air conditioner comprising: a main body arranged in a ceiling and having a rectangular cross-section opening on a room side of the main body; a blower fan arranged in the main body, and configured to blow air taken in from an air inlet of the main body to a discharge outlet of the main body; a heat exchanger arranged in the main body and downstream of the blower fan, and configured to exchange heat with the air taken in from the air inlet; a decorative panel covering the opening; and a wind direction vane arranged in the discharge outlet, and configured to adjust a blowing direction, wherein the decorative panel includes a peripheral panel having a rectangular frame shape, and a central panel having a rectangular plate shape and arranged to fill a central portion of the peripheral panel, and wherein the wind direction vane is arranged behind the decorative panel when the ceiling cassette air conditioner is in operation.
 12. The ceiling cassette air conditioner according to claim 11, wherein the decorative panel is arranged to be flush with a ceiling surface.
 13. The ceiling cassette air conditioner according to claim 11, further comprising a lifting device to raise and lower the decorative panel, wherein the lifting device lowers the decorative panel when the blower fan is operated.
 14. The ceiling cassette air conditioner according to claim 13, wherein the lifting device controls a lowering amount of the decorative panel depending on a rotation frequency of the blower fan.
 15. The ceiling cassette air conditioner according to claim 14, wherein the lifting device raises and lowers the peripheral panel, and wherein the lifting device lowers the peripheral panel when the blower fan is operated.
 16. The ceiling cassette air conditioner according to claim 15, wherein the air inlet and the discharge outlet are formed by lowering the peripheral panel with the lifting device.
 17. The ceiling cassette air conditioner according to claim 15, wherein the lifting device controls a lowering amount of the peripheral panel depending on the blowing direction.
 18. The ceiling cassette air conditioner according to claim 15, wherein the lifting device controls a lowering amount of the peripheral panel depending on rotation frequency of the blower fan. 